Scavenged Blogs

So, I feel like writing a blog but I'm too lazy to actually write one out at moment so I'll just steal some old rambling from about a year or so ago from another blog of mine.

So some more stupid rambling about the Universe...

Before I had discussed how the latest thoughts are that the Big Bang was not a singular phenomenon... but that our Universe marked a beginning but also an event that had happened before... a continual growing and shrinking, a contracting and expanding... I like to think of the Universe as a beating heart... well anyways.. what about OUR universe in it’s particular permutation...?

Well, it began as one incredibly small blob smaller than you could see with your eyes, or a microscope... incredibly tiny... imagine the entirety of the universe smaller than a grain of sand... incredibly hot full of the potential for all life and all of time... the source of every laugh and every tear to come afterwords....

This little tiny guy was a little seed, just like a new love in your heart... full of energy and potential for anything and everything... There are four forces in our universe, gravity, eltcromagnetism, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force... theoretically at the beginning, when the universe was smaller than a molecule containing everything, all of these forces where one force... one force contained in all of the matter and energy for everything and everyone and this whole world...

Most likely, gravity left and escaped from this ultimate force causing an incredible dispersion and inflation at which point the universe expanded faster than the speed of light... this is why the Universe is fairly uniform and as big as it can be even though it’s something like... forgive on dates.. I’m terrible at them... but somewhere around 13.7billion years old I believe?? But larger than it should be at this age if it was expanding only at the speed of light...

So this one force jumps ship and the rest release as well eventually into their separate parts...

at the inception of this and during inflation there were only hydrogen atoms and a few of them got together and made some helium particles... then a little down the line crazy stuff like light comes to be and gravity, maybe missing being together with the rest of it’s forces.. what if the original force was love? Yeah, I’m babbling but it’s 3 in the morning and NPR is not lulling me to sleep, this is what you get for reading my blog! So anyways gravity broke up the band so from now on it’s trying get everyone back together... where has the love gone and all that... gravity pulls these balls of hydrogen and helium together into these crazy gaseous balls called stars and this crazy thing called fusion starts to happen... insane!

So anyways, these stars drawn together by gravity begin fusing protons and neutrons and electrons into bigger and heavier atoms... nitrogen.. oxygen... carbon... all that good stuff... and it throws all of this out into this crazy new universe and gravity grabs onto these things and they come together into these crazy things called planets... I mean.. it’s a little crazy, but basically everything except for the hydrogen and helium on our planet, every cell in your body, every chemical that causes any reaction in your body, every bit of every smile and every frown for you and your friends, and everyone you’ve ever known and everyone they’ve ever known... all of it, well most of it... comes from our star the Sun... all of us are just bits of the sun which have been pulled together by this poor guy gravity... this force who’s trying to pull us all back together again... every piece of you and me and everyone around us comes from the sun... we are all the same with a few differences... all of us the result of these four forces... all from the same little seed, all together and alone....

Some day we’ll all be pulled together again to be remixed and started anew... but it all began at one point... all of us... everything... smaller than a grain of sand...

someday we’ll be there again... every particle starts and finishes in the same place...

If I don't see you before I'll see you there and we can share the stories of our former Universe and the new one to come.

yup, that’s all the nothing I have to talk about at the moment.

Real Blog to Come.... here's this for now.

Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900.

98. Ah Poverties, Wincings and Sulky Retreats


AH poverties, wincings, and sulky retreats!
Ah you foes that in conflict have overcome me!
(For what is my life, or any man’s life, but a conflict with foes—the old, the incessant war?)
You degradations—you tussle with passions and appetites;
You smarts from dissatisfied friendships, (ah wounds, the sharpest of all;)
You toil of painful and choked articulations—you meannesses;
You shallow tongue-talks at tables, (my tongue the shallowest of any;)
You broken resolutions, you racking angers, you smother’d ennuis;
Ah, think not you finally triumph—My real self has yet to come forth;
It shall yet march forth o’ermastering, till all lies beneath me;
It shall yet stand up the soldier of unquestion’d victory.

Happy BDay little Chris

Hey, today is my cousin's BDay and I just wanted to say happy bday to him here. I've been saving my bday cake and I'll be eating it today as well, so it's kind of like a co-bday party on two continents. And we all get cake. Pretty excited about that.

Happy Bday

So, I had the best BDay ever.  More like a Bday week.  I did a lot... most of it was legal, like 80% wasn't morally reproachable... so that's not too bad right?  Thanks to everyone for all the BDay wishes and all the BDay cards.  I got a new camera from my mom so now I can start posting up more pictures and she requested seeing where I live.... Get ready for the most boringest slide show of all time.    Here it is.

My walk to school.

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My Old Place

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My New Place

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Ok, now that I have a camera again I promise to take a bunch of pictures and put them up here until someone destroys this new one too.

Palm Reading...

Yes, I'm that bored.  I looked up some palmreadery online and this is what my palm say about me and my future!  I had one of my Korean students read my palm for me once and she just looked at it and smiled at me.  She refused to tell me what my palm said but said I should marry her.

My Heart Line

-falls in love easily

-freely expresses emotions and feelings

-some emotional trauma

My Head Line

-creativity

-adventure, enthursiasm for life

-thinking is clear and focused

-momentous decisions

My Life Line

-plenty of engergy

-vitality

-strength and enthusiams

-extra vitality

My Fate Line

-self-made indivdiaul; develops aspirations early on

The Shape of My Hand

- spontaneous, enthusiastic and optimistic

-sometimes egoistic, impulsive and insensitve

-extrovert

-do things boldy and intuitively

Some advanced readings....

-the long length of my ring finger denotes that I may have artistic talent as well as a reckless and wild nature.

-my straight fingers represent honest, direct and clear headed.

-soft heart

on all of my fingers I have the same types of knuckles which represent I am a person whose intellect and practicality work well together.  A strong instictive drive is charactersitc of well-developed knuckles.

the balls of my fingers show a strong intellect and courtesy of the mind

Finger Spacing

-the distance between my pinky finger and wring finger indicate an independent mind.

-the closeness of my wring and middle finger suggest that I have an art related life and fate will aid me in success.

-the distance between my index and middle finger suggest that my success will come from somewhere other than my own goals and dreams.

Some smaller lines-

Health Line

-the triangle it forms with my heart and head lines is referred to as the "lucky triangle".  The broad angle indicates very good luck.

Fame Line

-likely to have fame in the arts

Marriage Line(s)

unclear but I believe mine indicates a marriage (as opposed to affairs or separations, etc.)

Money Line

The line running to my ring finger cutting through the Fame Line indicates money obtained through luck and surprise

Line of Intuition-represnts intuitiveness (duh)

Oh my goodness.. there is more and I am still bored!  Now the 'Mounts'

Jupiter mount-kind, more interested in respect than wealth.

Saturn-responsible, hard-working, aloof, gloomy

Apollo-proud, flatterer, extravagent

Mercury-clever, crafty, competitive

Inner Mars-Aggresive, argumentative

Plain of Mars-Uses the qualities of the heart head and destiny lines

Outer Mars-Strong-willed

Venus-Affectionate, sympathetic

Neptune-artistic talent, Charasimatic

Luna-Lovers of nature and beauty, immagintive

Dominant Mounts-

Venus-represents love/affection/passion

Lower Mars-represents physical courage

Okay, there are about 100 other things to look at in the 'degrees of the palm' but believe it or not I am not that bored.

Interesting Article..

It's terribly written but it does give a little humanizing perspective of those on the other side of this rift.

http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/1175.html

My mother told me...

... that I need to stop swearing even if this is my blog and that I should proof read my blogs because she can't believe that I'm an English teacher after reading my writing.

Since tomorrow is mother's day I guess I'll start proof-reading and stop swearing as much. She also informed me that it's bum-fuck nowhere not butt-fuck nowhere. See, look who's swearing now. Where do you think I learned this kind of language.


Love ya mom. Happy Mother's Day!

Perfect Day

Okay so yesterday started off pretty boring. No electricity or running water. Mostly sat around sleeping and reading. Started and finished half a book. But come about 1 o'clock Eric, Nick and I went to have lunch with a Mauritanian friend who's we had over for dinner once and he's been asking us to come over for weeks. We finally found a time when we could and thank Allah we did.

Had some of the best Chebb Gen and Daomada I've ever had... yeah they fed us two plates of food at once. Pretty Akbar. Then we just hung out forever with him and his family and talked shit. Pretty entertaining to be talking shit in four different languages. I'm still amused by how we have conversations switching seamlessly between all of them.

His house is out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere(pardon my language, but this is my blog and it is my language)even further away than my school so we had a long walk. He was telling us about his friends house where he works out here and he said they had proper weights... we had to see this! So we go and we find ourselves the first Mauritanian 'gym' we've ever seen. It's just a guys dirt yard with some car axels welded to wheels, a couple of water jugs hooked to a rope and pulley system and a bench made of scrap wood -- but they are other than that the proper equipment. So we stay for a work out. We're working out with what have got to be 4 of the most ripped malnourished guys I've ever seen and it's like having four personal trainers yelling at you 3 different languages. I've been trying to do push-ups and sit-ups and running and some other stuff to make me feel like keeping something of my former strength from the states but it's been nothing like this. Eric and Nick are both much bigger guys than me and I thought I might look like the runt of the bunch when we were lifting but I was happy to see that I was more than keeping pace with them and the Mauritanians. This morning I am, however, a little sore. The good kind though. What more could you ask for? I'm definitely building a gym out of car parts when I get back home, I wish I had a welding machine here I'd go to town!

After that we just went home chilled out and had made ourselves a tasty treat. I guess that was pretty much all that made up my perfect day here.

I think it was such a nice day because we spent it almost all with Mauritanians (which is generally the opposite) and it was one of those times in a volunteers progress for me when I felt like I was breaking past another plateau. For the last couple months I've felt like my language and integration had been stagnating and there is nothing that I hate more than being stagnant. I'm constantly seeking personal growth, usually by putting myself into uncomfortable situations (like this stupid sandbox I'm living in!). In the last few weeks I've really been hanging out with my teachers a lot, I've got some new projects percolating, I feel like my French is starting to improve again, I'm getting better at Wolof I can pretty much understand what's going on 75% of the time in Wolof conversations, I'm starting to learn some Hassaniya beyond saying hello and it's hot for 45 min (I plan on sneaking into language classes this summer or getting a tutor so I can learn hassaniya as well) and more importantly I feel 'normal' again in my encounters with Mauritanians. I'm hitting a serious transitional stage again and I feel growth coming in many areas. Including these guns (yes I am pointing to my arms... oh yeah, you can feel the power!)

It's nice to have internet here at my place now. I am a morning person and I usually do most of my work between 5-10am. I can start reading my news and bullshitting on here on a regular basis, get a whole new morning routine. Okay, that's all my blathering and BSing for now.

Peace.

To Be Continued...

Had a pretty good day today. Almost a perfect day. I'm tuckered out though so I'll blog about it tomorrow morning (In'Shallah).

The nights are getting colder here again surprisingly. That's nice. Makes for lovely star-gazing. The moon has a light pale yellow halo around it tonight. I hope that ring around the moon doesn't mean she's getting married! I was really hoping to have the moon for my very own some day. I guess if she's not really made out of cheese then it wouldn't be as much of a let down though.

Goodnight friends, goodnight kids, goodnight animals, goodnight moon.

Happiness according to a refrigerator magnet...

So I just moved into my new house for the next year which happens to be above a cyber cafe. That means I'll be able to bullsh... ah, blog more often. Okay, really mostly bullshit. I have a lot of really close friends who are starting already to leave and some new people who are about to be coming in. So this is a transitional moment in the middle of a stagnation of extreme changes in my life... got that? Anyways, one of my buddies today was telling me about how he remembered growing up always seeing a magnet on his refrigerator that said "Happiness is having someone to love, something to do or something to look forward to." And we both just looked at each other and started laughing hysterically. Because that's pretty much the opposite of Mauritania. There's no one to love here, and if you happen to find someone that you might actually be able to have a meaningful relationship with you are so far away and so hampered by the situation that you can't realistically explore the possibility of something beyond sending text messages and seeing each other once every 2 months. You have nothing to do 98% of the time because it's just to damn hot and there is literally nothing to do here. While there are events or things that you can look forward too Mauritania has trained you like a dog that gets beat every time it reaches for a delicious beggin strip (I would actually eat a beggin strip in lieu of bacon right now!) not to raise expectations for anything good that might happen. Case in point, we have an amazing Administration here in our country that allows us certain travel and vacation privileges because they understand the difficulties of our lives. So, there are a few gatherings each year that allow us to go meet with those we might love in less depressing and more hygienic situations, allow us something to do and give us something to look forward too. Unfortunately the last two of these, the Atar Marathon and the upcoming Jazz Fest in St. Louis have been canceled... oh Mauritania!

I know my last post made me sound like a donkey screaming at evil spirits on a night of a full moon (which is a simile that makes perfect since if you live here)and with this one it might sound like another uninspired to head-bangingly bored and depressed blog, but the point of this little rant is the laughing.

Just reading my blogs it might sound like I'm an unhappy fellow, but nay, I am likely probably having the most fun here of any person in this country. And I'm glad to see that no matter what, even when facing the fact that I'm living in a situation which is the antithesis of happiness I can't help to do anything but laugh.

Hope whatever difficulties you're facing out there you are laughing those sons of bitches right into the ground like me. If not, give me a call and I'll make you feel better! Or at least it will give me something to do!

Promise now that I have internet I'll start blogging about all the happy things that happen here to me like my 30min walk to school every day where I'm accosted by children both ways who won't let me pass until I have greeted and talked with them in French, Pulaar and Hassaniya and for the smaller children who won't let me pass until I hold their hands for a bit of the walk, hug them or pick them up and carry them. The good times here are not so few, but they are fleeting and hard to keep in mind by the time I make it to the internet and the funny Allah laughing at me as he thwops me one on the noggin dwell a bit more on the mind. But I'll find time to fit them both now.

Donkey!

Oh my... I forgot about this video. If you want to see some pictures of what Mauritania looks like watch this Youtube video. As you watch it keep in mind that the donkey is really a metaphor for what happens to your spirit as a young American living here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKkKQLdbCI4




PS-In retrospect this blog seems kind of depressing, if you're not familiar with me and my humor please be aware that while I am sincere about the metaphor here I find this countries continued attempts to beat me into submission quite entertaining!

Oh my...

Yeah, so I was just skimming my last blog and saw that I said something like Mauritania has it's first black president... well I am greatly ashamed to admit that clearly my teaching English is a sham because it's = "it is" and not its... like the first black president of Mauritania. I literally just taught a lesson a week ago on the difference between possessive pronouns and contractions. So unprofessional of me.

What's the Common Thread?

http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/mauritanian-senate-chair-sworn-in-as-acting-president-2009041725654.html

Our dear General who lead the military coup and military junta has recently stepped down as President of this great Islamic Republic so that he might run in the June 6th elections as a legally and constitutionally valid candidate for President. Since he has stepped down our new interim president here is Mamadou Ba, A BLACK GUY! So Mauritania officially, okay maybe more technically... but either way, seriously (I like adverbs) has it's first black president.

Kinda of coincidental that they finally have their first black president at the same time as the United States of America finally gets ours too. Or maybe it's not a coincidence... what is the common factor... who was present in both countries for the respective swearing ins... Well as far as I know only me! Yes that's right, I am responsible for both Obama and Ba... I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure that it's officially a scientific fact. I mean look... it's science. I'm the variable causing these events. I'll even give you an if/then statement and you can try to prove me wrong. If Brandon Forester is 23 and lives in your country, then you will have your first black president sworn in. Irrevocable. Irrefutable. Unequivocal. Science.


Love,

Brandon "The King Maker" Forester






PS-I'll try to write a real blog sometime soon.

HA HA HA...

Yup, that's pretty much how the system works...

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=the-end-of-the-trip-with-a-few-surp-2009-03-22

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, Mauritania has been being pretty good to me since the softball tournament in Dakar. When I got back my house finally had water all day and everyday. My classes were going pretty well. I was spending more time talking with some of the directors at my school. It's been nice and cool relatively speaking. I got a meat smoker. I sealed my house and killed off all the flies and mosquitoes. Took care of my student loans and taxes... Some other good stuff has been happening too. Just good stuff all around... but Mauritania is finally striking back!

So it all starts with the super dependent dog at my house who couldn't stand sleeping alone and outside one night so she destroyed the door and the therefore the insect seal keeping all the bugs out of the house. Then just this last week I went out to Tekane with Mike to help out with a Girl's Empowerment and Education project out in village. I thought that would be a good time... and it was but my sunglasses fell off on the trip out and got destroyed by the road and that night my MP3 player was stolen.

Then when I got back from my spring break/st. patti's day trip my house was flooded and just so I would know that Allah was messing with me after the flooding now I have no water at my house again! So we'll see what happens the rest of this week. Hopefully the taxes come soonish and then I can order an mp3 player and get it here within the next two months.... I could also see something going horribly wrong with testing totally alienating myself from the school directors again! Gotta be ready for absolute crushing disappointment in this country.. it's their number one export.

But thankfully guarded optimism is my number one export, or at least just seeing how funny all of this stupidity is. Plus I got some other generally good stuff going for me right now that I won't disclose on this blog at moment for fear that Allah might take that away from me too! But, to quote Larry David from the appropriately titled show, Curb Your Enthusiasm (that's the casual self-title for my whole service over here) it's Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good.

Peace Out, Love you all.

Yay

I finally finished my taxes, and I came up to Nktt to take care of my student loans so that's taken care of as well. I'm also on Spring break so that's pretty great. Going to thouroughly enjoy my night in Nktt, warm showers, cold rooms and comfy beds that aren't on the floor. Hanging out with peeps who I don't get to see anywhere near enough. Then tomorrow I head back to Rosso, Friday go out to Nick's village, Tekane, with Mike to help Mike do a Girls Olympics thing with girls from his GMC in Rosso... then we have St. Patti's day weekend which will be spent in an undisclosed location where there will be good times had by all. Then a week and a half of who knows what. Hopefully traveling around and visiting some places I haven't seen up north, maybe riding the coal train, maybe a camel track... anyways. I'm feeling accomplished right now and I'm about to go eat some real food and chill with my peeps.

peace

Cause I'm avoiding doing taxes...

I was blogging about my band on my MySpace blog and saw this terrible blog on there that I wrote months ago. I thought I'd waste some time and post it here too.



I am a spirit of pure love.
I am seeking Truth in this world.
I am an agent of change.
I am a movement, a force of nature, I cannot die.
I can't be stopped, I can't even be slowed down.

I am a Whirlwind, you cannot hinder me. If you stand in my way I will sweep you up and make you a part of me or I will throw you aside.

We'll all find peace when we die, come live with me in Chaos while we can.

Love ya.

Good Luck Getting This One to Take Off...

Check out this Article about a new Mauritanian national airline.... bless their hearts for trying but nothing in this country works. God knows I'm not getting on that plane... and it's not like anyone is trying to fly into this country. I guess if they let me fly home considering the odds a plane run by this country crashing are pretty high... I'd might still take the flight home with the 87% chance of crashing into the ocean.

Actually I've been having a great time here in the RIM as of late even though that sounds kinda bitter... Good times all around. Even recorded an 'EP' with some friends. Check it out at www.myspace.com/garybuseyvskevincostner



http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/mauritania-to-set-up-a-new-national-airline-2009031523737.html

Back to RIM

Hey-Oh... back to this place again! I'll try to get a more thorough blog posted between now and WAIST about my trip back to the states but that probably won't happen... but I do at least have a new number for people. I'll update on my page but here it is as well

222-406-7256